Page 2 of The Billionaire's Timed Wife

Emirate of Rheadur

A few more steps.

Almost there.

And then, finally, an empty room!

I never thought I’d have to hide inside my own palace, but to escape mothers with marriageable daughters throwing hopeful glances my way, I’m willing to endure even this indignity.

If we were anywhere in Europe, where I usually spend most of my time managing my shipbuilding company, I could simply turn my back and walk out of the party. But here, in my family’s emirate, social conventions must be respected.

In my position as prince, the sheikh’s second son, publicly rejecting one of the young women eager to become my wife could make other men think there’s something wrong with her, condemning her to ostracism or lifelong spinsterhood. Which,to me, sounds like paradise, since I have no intention of ever getting married.

“How long are you planning to stay in there?” Vicenzzo[7], one of my best friends, asks on the phone.

It may sound strange, but I can’t choose just one of them as mybestfriend. The truth is, I havebrothersthat destiny, not blood, gave me. We met at boarding school in Switzerland, and we were inseparable, loud, wild, ready to enjoy everything life had to offer. In fact, we still are. But back then, we simply didn’t let anyone outside our tight little circle get close.

Only the children of the global elite studied at our school—and we were, without a doubt, the elite of the elite.

“Just long enough to keep my father from getting upset,” I finally answer. “Today, Naim[8] will take my ab’s[9] place as ruler of our emirate, and I’ll finally be free. Long live the new sheikh!” I add, my tone dripping with irony.

“He’s going to need that blessing if he keeps chasing every woman that walks by, married or not.”

If anyone else had said that, I wouldn’t have tolerated such disrespect. Even if Naim is a bastard, he’s still my half-brother, the son of my father’s first wife. But coming from Vicenzzo or any of the guys, I don’t even bother arguing, because it’s nothing but the truth.

By the law of our country, Naim must take the throne, and I can already foresee years of turbulence under his rule—which I hope lasts forever, since I’m second in the line of succession. My father has no other sons, so there is no guarantee I’ll avoid becoming sheikh.

The problem is that, even with three wives, my brother hasn’t managed to produce a single male heir. Which means that if anything happens to him, I’ll be appointed in his place.

The thought alone weighs on me like a ball of iron in my stomach. Spending the rest of my life bound by the duties ofthe sheikh’s position, stripped of the freedom to do whatever I please, is my worst nightmare.

“Will Abdar be there too?”

“I didn’t give him a chance to say no,” I reply, smiling as I remember Abdar’s face when I told him about the ceremony. “Real friends endure torture together.”

“If that’s a jab at me, you should know I’ve got my own problems. I swear to God, my mother’s going to give me a stroke.”

Vicenzzo, heir to the Principality of Amasitano[10], has just broken off an engagement, and his name—as well as his ex-fiancée’s, heiress to a prestigious Hispano-American family—has been splashed across every gossip magazine, driving his witch of a mother insane.

“All right. You owe me one. I have to go, or I’ll end up breaking one of my father’s precious etiquette rules.”

He laughs on the other end of the line.

“Your old man must regret sending you to study in Europe. Lucky you, having a different mother from your brother.”

“I don’t know if he regrets it, but I’m grateful. I can’t imagine ruling anything other than my company.”

“Good for you your only responsibility is your CEO title. I don’t have that luxury.”

Unlike me, Vicenzzo has no brothers, so after his father’s death, he assumed the role of supreme leader of his principality.

“I have to go, Your Highness,” I mock.

“Talk to you later, Your Highness as well,” he shoots back.

“Cut it out. I’ll never be sheikh.”

“You never know,” he says, laughing, before hanging up.